


Piano

by Yume_no_Mikoto



Series: K-Pop D&D [2]
Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, D&D AU, Depictions of Sex and Violence but not super explicit, Fantasy, Gen, He's safe... mostly, No really it's sad as shit, Oh don't worry the Rape tag is not for Hui, again I'm sorry, for Hui and everyone, i don't know if you could count what happens as a happy ending, i feel bad writing this honestly because i hurt my leader hui T-T, i might change it in the future, i succ at titles, so I'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 09:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13948266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yume_no_Mikoto/pseuds/Yume_no_Mikoto
Summary: To Hui, music is a blessing... and also a curse.





	Piano

**Author's Note:**

> Hui's solo story! This is in the same series as my other story The Pentagon Unit but set in the past~ exploring his life before his time as a part of Pentagon.  
> I made this a different story all on its own because it just has a different feel to the other fic.  
> Anyway, enjoy! I'm planning to make origin stories for everyone, so if you like this... look forward for everyone else's? XD  
> ....I want to promise that some of them would be happy, knowing me that'll be highly unlikely. I'll try tho!
> 
> P.S. The races here are the same as the ones in the same story in this series, if you get confused (as i don't really expound them in this story) just read the first chapter of The Pentagon Unit  
> Link here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13650645/chapters/31352157

To Hui, music is a blessing... and also a curse.

Back when he lived in the large mansion he used to call his home, that was all he was truly allowed to do. It was better than what he was forced to do when he was readopted by his real father but being trapped in a mansion to play the piano to the sounds of...

Music was his escape, his refuge and also the chains that kept him in place.

He was taught by a haughty but somewhat kind wind genasi that was a frequenter of his father's... parties. Hui remembers seeing the pale blue skinned man float over the grand piano, his hair stark white and swaying along to wind that wasn’t present. The genasi’s fingers were flying over the keys as if they were floating as well.

Hui was entranced.

No one played the piano in the house because his father didn’t know how to... and servants like himself were only to clean it, never play it.

He watched him play to the completion of an entire song, transfixed by the instrument and by the man himself. Hui wanted to approach but he knew wasn't allowed to talk to any of the guest, no one was to know he was related to the head of the house.

He was an abomination.

The son of a human noble to his elven concubine.

It was a miracle that he was even allowed to be alive, his father would tell him as he punished him for disobeying.

He was torn, he wanted to stay and watch him until he stopped playing but then he also wanted to run. He couldn't think of the punishment that his father would deal if he saw him loitering around the halls while his parties were ongoing.

Hui was supposed to be in the servant’s quarters, asleep with the rest of them. He woke because he was parched, all he really planned to do was get a glass of water and head back. But then he heard it…

The music, it called to him.

Not by name, but his soul. He felt the notes reach into the very depths of his heart and cradle his very being to succumb.

To move closer.

To stay.

To listen.

To learn.

Once he stayed crouched by the open crack of the door, he couldn’t leave. He was scared, he was entranced, he was mesmerized and he wanted to leave and stay forever.

The decision was then made for him when the genasi faced where he was and held out his hand.

"Do you want to learn... little boy?” he asked, his head held high but his eyes sparked a sort of curiosity that reflected Hui’s own.

Before he could think any better, he approached the genasi until he was standing right next to the bench he was sitting on. The genasi sits on the very edge and pats the space he made next to him.

Hui knew this was going to get him punished. He knew that the beatings he would get from this would be worse than any that he's had before.

Not only is he planning to play his father's piano but he's also talking to one of the guests. It's not that hard to think that his father might even kill him, he’s already threatened to do so on less.

But he was curious... he was so curious that even if tonight is the last night he would be alive, he wouldn't really mind.

Hui sat down next to the genasi, staring at the piano before him. He wanted to touch it, he itched to reach out... but he waited until the older man tells him to.

Pale blue fingers dance across the white keys, not pressing but just caressing, almost as if he was teasing Hui. The half elf held on to the fabric of his pants, stopping himself from doing anything that might take this opportunity away from him.

"Do you like music?" the older man asks him.

Hui looks to the older man and he sees him looking at the piano, a small smirk gracing his face. He didn't really understand why but he felt that he could trust him, even if he didn't look trustworthy at all.

"I... I don't know." he mumbles his response, "I don't... I haven't listened to music."

"Did you like my performance?"

Hui nods before mumbling a small, "...yes."

"Do you want to learn how to play this?" He feels the genasi’s bright blue eyes stare at him and he bends his head further, vigorously nodding.

"...yes."

The genasi then stands behind him, grasping his young shoulders with both hands. He bends over until his lips are by Hui's left ear and he whispers:

"What are you willing to sacrifice to learn?"

His shoulders tense and the genasi chuckles behind him.

"What are you willing to give to learn how to play?" he asks him again.

Hui takes a deep breath and stares at the piano.

It was silent and yet it felt like it was screaming to him.

 _Reach out_ , it would say, _reach out and everything will be alright._

His hand shot out and touched a single key, not enough to press it down. Hui could feel the instrument tempting him, just a little more… just a little more and he could understand.

He turns to look at the genasi, the fear and doubt in his eyes gone, leaving a look of determination.

"I’ll give you everything, what do you want?"

His pale blue hand runs through Hui's hair, the smirk still in place as he whispers between them. "Let's start with your name."

"My name is Hui."

"Hello Hui, you can call me Zen."

Zen reached over and pressed one key with his index, without removing his finger, his hand stretches and plays another key with his pinky.

"Let's start with chords. Listen, Hui... and you will learn."

Zen took one of his hands and placed it on the same keys he did, then he moves it and positions his hand to do another, telling him the name of the chords as he goes along. Hui was listening attentively as the pale blue hand guided his own. He was fascinated by the sounds that came out, his eyes glowing with happiness that he didn't know he was able to feel.

"It's easy, isn't it?" Zen's somewhat breathy voice says by his ear.

Hui doesn't nod but his eagerness was enough answer for Zen to continue their little session.

It only seemed like minutes but hours have passed, the sun slowly rising and illuminating the room. The wind genasi had stopped guiding his hand and was just floating behind him as he continued playing on his own.

"You're a natural, Hui." Zen praises him but there was a note of snobbishness that never leave his eternally breathy voice.

Nevertheless, Hui continues playing. The piano sings under the press of his fingers and he smiles and smiles.

That is until his father opens the door, immediately seeing Hui and Zen by the piano.

"Filth!" he yells as he strides over and grabs Hui by the hair, "What did I tell you about touching what's not yours. And bothering guests too!"

His father's grip on his hair hardens as he drags Hui to the ground, dumping his small body on the floor.

On the corner of his eye, he sees Zen stop floating, the ever-present smirk on his face disappearing for a fraction of a second before it returns. He moves towards Hui's father and lightly touches his shoulder as he continues to shout at him.

His father turns towards the genasi and composes himself, clearing his throat before bowing in front of him.

"I apologize in behalf of this garbage if he has bothered you in any way, shape or form. I'll make sure he learns his lesson, starting with his fingers." he spits in disdain, surprising the young boy and he lets out a soft whimper.

What is his father planning to do? He knew that he was going to get punished but to lose his capability to play… Hui instinctively hides his hands behind his back as tears start to flow down his brown eyes.

Zen only spares him a glance before he smiles at his father.

"Well now Lord Lee, let's not be rash. I enjoyed his company," he responds as he gestures for the noble to stand himself upright. "Actually, I rather enjoyed his company than your little group of whores from the other room. They were quite predictable and boring. But this child..."

Zen moves towards Hui and uses some sort of wind magic to make him stand up. He grasps his shoulders and smirks at his face. "He's a curious case. I'd like to... play with him more."

And with that, he was saved from the wrath of his father.

Days following, after Hui attended his classes, he would always clean the piano and dress himself in proper clothes as he waits for Zen to come. When they meet, he and the genasi move to the room where the piano is and he teaches him how to play.

A month or two follows, he and Zen were both in the room as he was playing the piano. Out of nowhere, he gets turned around by a rush of wind and is face to face with the genasi.

"...yes?" he asks in a small voice, afraid that he might've done something wrong and upset the genasi.

Said genasi shrugs and replies, "You're part elf, correct?"

Hui nods.

"Elves have innate magic... so that must mean you have innate magic as well."

He tilts his head in his confusion as he's not sure where Zen was going with his train of thought.

"Have you ever used magic before, Hui?"

Hui shakes his head.

Zen hums, clearly deep in thought, before he places a finger on a small necklace that Hui has around his neck.

It was a simple silver necklace with a thin chain and a plain silver ring as a pendant.

It was given to him by his mother, the only real connection he has to his mother that he never gets to meet, even if they're living in the same mansion.

"Give that to me," Zen tells him and slowly wraps his fingers around the chain.

He was on his way to tugging the necklace when Hui reaches for his wrist, stopping him immediately.

Zen places his other hand on top of Hui's and squeezes it.

"I thought you would be willing to sacrifice everything to learn, filth." He sneers at Hui, inching his face closer to the half-elf.

He stares at the genasi's pale green eyes. They were challenging him, pushing him to defy him, to stop him.

Ever since he could remember, he had not met his mother.

His father was never shy about telling him that they were related, but he's never shared to Hui about his mother. Also, he’s never treated Hui like his own kin. Aside from paying for his education, he was treated like just another servant to clean his mansion and feed him.

It was the majordomo of the mansion that told him that his mother was one of his father's many concubines. He was her favorite... until he was born. The majordomo wouldn’t clarify what he meant by that but Hui wasn’t stupid.

But he would tell him stories about his mother. The majordomo tells him that his mother always asks how he is, always asking if Hui has eaten, if he's taking his classes well, if he has been punished as of late. Even if they will never see each other, he feels his mother's love.

On his 9th birthday, the majordomo gave him this necklace and told him it came from his mother.

It was the only link he has to her.

He stares at the genasi's eyes, his own pleading him to let it go.

But he didn't.

…so, Hui did.

Surprisingly, instead of tugging the necklace off him like he was motioning to do, Zen pulls Hui's head forward and undoes the necklace from its clasp.

He sits on the edge of the piano bench with both of his hands outstretched, palm up. On his left hand lies the silver necklace.

"Observe, I'll only do this once."

Zen starts to hum under his breath and an identical necklace apparated on his other hand, Hui gazes at him in astonishment. Once the duplicate was fully formed, he smiles at Hui.

"Touch it," he orders while moving the duplicate closer to Hui. He places his finger on the necklace but it just passes through.

Zen chuckles at his puzzled expression and says, "It's an illusion. It's quite an elementary spell when you have affinity to magic."

Hui stares at the illusion and his real necklace and a sudden thrill washes through him.

"C-can I..." he clears his throat as he looks up to meet the eyes of the genasi, "Can I learn this?"

"You may," Zen replies, but then he pockets the necklace and pats the bench. "But learning to do with your natural affinity is boring. So, I'll teach you to make illusions through the piano."

Even with his natural affinity, according to Zen, it was difficult. He could channel his magic to his fingertips but once it hits the keys of the piano it immediately dissipates. Zen clicks his tongue behind him and tells him to do it again.

Days, weeks, and months start to pass and he's still not able to do it. The genasi stopped appearing after a month because Hui "is boring now" but because he's such an exceptional piano player, his father was fine with him still practicing... provided that he also plays for his guests.

Two full years have passed and Hui had not progressed in channeling his magic through the piano. During that time, he'd also learn to play the lute and the harp just to see if he could channel his magic through a different instrument but even then, he couldn't do it.

He has managed to do the spell without the instrument but he was unsatisfied. Zen told him that it was easy if he only used his natural affinity. He wanted to learn how to do it with the piano, at first it was because he wanted the genasi to be proud of him but now he just wants to affirm his abilities.

He wants to be better, more than just his talent for music, more than just his racial ability to harness magic, he just wants to be better.

When he turned 16, his father had opened the doors to the other side of his mansion to Hui, mostly because his father's guests enjoyed his music and wanted him to play while they participated in the parties.

Once he was allowed inside, he went to the majordomo and asked what his mother looked like. With purpose, he opens the room where the parties were held and he sees a handful of naked women.

Most of them were human, he also saw a halfling and two gnome women that were shackled by the manacles on the wall.

He searched around and in the middle of the room he saw the only elf.

She had bronze skin, golden hair and equally golden eyes. Most of her skin was unmarred except her stomach where there was a large gash, Hui doesn't want to think that it was his fault.

She was beautiful. She looked so young.

She was his mother.

Hui stared at her by the doorway, afraid to approach and wanting to run into her arms, her nakedness be damned.

He reached out to his neck to grasp the necklace but just finds air, he almost forgot that Zen left with his necklace.

Ashamed of himself for essentially handing over the link he had to his mother, he creates an illusion of the necklace to his neck and continues staring at his mother. All his life, he was prepared to only hear stories, to never see her in real life.

Now that she was there in front of Hui, he couldn’t call out to her. He was scared. Instead, he ducked his head and moved to leave but then he hears a woman call out, "Hui?"

He freezes. He's afraid to turn around but he also wants to give in and run to her.

His mother. His whore of a mother. He's never met her in his life, and yet he loves her.

"Hui, is that you?" she calls again.

He turns to see her standing, looking his direction.

"Mo--" he tries to say but he chokes on his words as tears start to flow from his eyes.

Before he knows it, she runs to him and envelops him in a hug.

Even if the room was chilly, her skin felt warm. He cries on her shoulder as she continues to embrace him, one of her hands running through his hair.

"It's okay, my darling. You'll be okay," she whispers in his ear and he wishes he could believe her.

He continues to cry in her arms until the majordomo quietly calls him to assist in preparing for his father's dinner.

His mother releases him, her small hands cupping his face and wiping his tears with her thumbs. He wanted to say so many things to her, tell her so many stories but no words would come out of his mouth.

She pulls his head down and places a kiss on his forehead.

"I love you always, my child."

From then on, a small part of him vowed to himself that he'd save her, somehow, someway, he'll try and free her.

The first day he played during his father's parties, he couldn't stop himself from shaking. His mother was being defiled by a large, plump man who pulled on her hair.

The majordomo would stand next to him to obscure his vision from the sight and held one of his shoulders as a sort of apology, but he could still hear her whimpers over the music.

He wished he could play the piano louder.

He couldn't.

After the parties, he would be congratulated by the guests for what he has played. Their hands on his shoulder and shaking his own, he wanted to punch every single one of them but then he saw his father standing next to his mother... and so he would just accept the gratitude, faking a smile as they left.

He wasn't allowed to loiter in the party room, and so after exchanging a small nod to his mother, it became a habit for him to run to servants' quarters and bathe himself, rubbing his skin raw from the touches of the guests and crying to himself.

He doesn't remember how long it has been since he'd been playing music for his father's guests during their parties but he's become better at ignoring the noises he hears. He's better at just keeping his head down and only focus on the keys of the piano.

One night, as he was preparing the piano, cleaning the keys and testing them, he hears a voice just outside the door.

It was breathy and confident, he knew that voice even before he opened the door to reveal himself.

It was Zen.

He looks up to see the genasi and even as Hui grew over the years, he looked the same.

Zen nods his head to his direction and walks over to the rest of the guests.

He forgot that Zen was one of the guests too, that's how they met. Hui couldn't help the feeling of betrayal that washed over him. He knew that he was one of his father’s guests, but he didn’t think that he would be a member of those parties.

It was there that he remembers something Zen has said to his father:

_Actually, I rather enjoyed his company than your little group of whores from the other room. They were quite predictable and boring. But this child..._

Zen has probably touched his mother.

He got bored of her, he'd probably hurt her before too.

He clenched his teeth and bit his tongue, trying to stifle the angry feeling he had in his chest.

He kept his head down and started playing the piano, the majordomo immediately moving in front of him to shield him away from the sight. It wasn’t all that helpful but he still appreciates the gesture.

Hui was concentrating so much from the music that he didn't feel someone sitting next to him, until he hears a small whisper.

"Is this what you wanted?"

His hands immediately stop from the keys and he looks towards Zen, rage and torment in his eyes.

The guests look up from the sudden stop of the music but then Zen conjures an ethereal hand that continues to play and the guests turn back to what they were doing.

There he was, the wind genasi that he thought to be his friend and mentor, smiling in that smug way he always seems to do.

He couldn’t possibly think that this is what Hui wanted in his life.

Hui wanted to learn how to play music but not to disgusting patrons who defile women.

He wanted to be appreciated but not only for his musical prowess.

He wanted someone to call his friend but not to someone who is only using him in the end.

He wanted to meet his mother but not while man after despicable man uses her.

"Do you... do you think this is what I wanted?" he asks him back, his voice betraying the cool demeanor he's trying to show.

He shrugs nonchalantly, clearly unaffected by Hui’s expression. “Why do you think I’m asking you? I don’t know what you want.”

"What do you care anyway?" he spits, "You're just like them."

Before he could even react, he feels Zen's fist connect to his face and he falls.

Everyone looks up from the commotion and his mother immediately detaches herself from the man she was with and runs to Hui's side.

Zen pushes her away with a gust of wind and approaches Hui with a sort of disdain in his eyes he's never seen before.

"Don't you dare," he grunts, "Don't you fucking dare compare me to them."

He stands over Hui's crumpled body, his body heaving with the anger that he felt.

The music has stopped. Everyone was looking their way, he sees the disgust in his father's eyes, the confusion in the other guests'. He turns to the side and he sees his mother scrambling to get to him.

Suddenly, a wall of wind of some sort surrounds him and the genasi, a part of him thinks he’s going to die and he can hear his mother calling him but it seems distant as he stares up at the eyes of Zen.

He looks angry, disgruntled, frustrated… and hurt?

He then sighs and sits cross-legged in front of Hui, his pale blue head in his equally pale hands.

“Why do I even care about you?” he mutters under his breath and Hui continues to stare at him.

“W-what?”

Zen raises his head from his hands and sighs yet again, “All of you mortals are so annoying. You’re all so annoying and yet…”

“The only reason I’m even here was because I heard you were playing well and I wanted to see for myself…”

“What?”

He takes a deep breath and meet’s Hui’s gaze. “Look, I’m not like the rest of your father’s guests. I’ve never touched your mom, I didn’t touch any of his whores. Mortals are disgusting and I’d never think to use them as your daddy dearest would.”

“Zen…”

“I don’t care if you don’t believe me,” he says as he stands up again, “But compare me to those vile, disgusting mortals again and I’ll hurt you.”

Hui couldn’t make sense of what he was feeling, he has no idea if he should be believing what the genasi is telling him but he does. A sense of relief washed over him and he smiles a little at how he judged the only person he thought of as his friend wrong.

Then he feels warm hands on his face. He stares ahead and suddenly the pounding in his head is gone, the pain immediately disappearing and leaving a warmth that was comfortable.

The same warmth he felt when he hugged his mother for the first time.

Zen's hands were on his face, it glowed for a second but immediately goes back to normal.

The wall of wind disappears. He helps him stand and sit back down on the piano bench.

"Continue playing, brat." he ruffles half elf's hair before he leaves the room, telling Hui's father he'll be in the dining area for some water.

He doesn't really understand what happened but he apologizes to the guests and continues playing. For a second, he turns to see if Zen was still there but like he said he was gone.

He wanted to apologize for jumping to conclusions… but maybe he can do it once the parties were over.

On the corner of his eye, he notices his mother try to approach him again but he sees her being dragged by his father. They sounded like they were arguing, but then he sees him strike her across the face.

His fingers slipped a little but he continued on. His rage returning again, boiling at the sound of his mother’s pained whimper and the laughter of the other guests.

He didn't really hear much after the pounding in his ears, the anger that's still running through his veins.

Finding no other outlet for his feelings, he shifts the tone of the music from calming to more vibrant.

Trying to pour every bit of feeling he can't release into the piece.

Then he hears a shout.

He continues playing, trying to block out the sounds with his music.

"I should punish you for leaving halfway like that." he hears his father sneer.

Hui looks up just in time to see his father pulling on his mother's hair and slamming her head on the floor.

He feels a rapid spark of energy pulse through his body as slams his hands on the keys. A sudden, loud, booming noise released from the piano as it cracked along with a shock wave so strong that it pushed everyone in the room to the walls.

Hui was the only one left standing, and he immediately runs to the fallen body of his mom.

"Mom," he whispers as he clutches her slightly bleeding head in his hands.

Her eyes slowly open and he smiles at her. "Mom..."

"My Hui," she reaches up and strokes his cheeks. "My beautiful boy."

To his right, he hears an angered shout. He raises his head to see his father holding a dagger in his grip.

"I knew I should've killed you as a baby." he grunts under his breath before lunging at Hui with the dagger.

Time slowed in his eyes. His father was running to him, dagger poised to stab him but he couldn't move his body. He didn't know what to do.

He feels his mother move away from his grip but he didn’t realize that she was jumping in front of him and before he could react, she takes the dagger to her chest and crumples to the floor.

He and his father share a look of surprise as he screams and holds his mother close.

He then hears someone’s booming but still somehow breathy voice shout words in a language he didn't understand. His father's ears start to bleed and he too falls to the ground, unconscious.

Hui didn't think anything of it. He couldn't think of anything else but his mother bleeding out in front of him.

“Mom…” he whispers to her, clutching the back of her head with one hand and the wound on the other.

She doesn’t respond.

“Mom…”

She doesn’t move.

Tears start to form on the corner of his eyes.

“Please…”

Blood continues to run through the wound on her abdomen and he lets out a small whimper as he feels it run down his hand.

“I… I…” _I wanted to save you._

He feels a hand on his shoulder. "Hui, we have to go." Zen’s voice coming off as solemn.

"I... I can't leave... my mom..." he didn't know when he started crying but now that he is, he couldn't stop.

"I’m sorry Hui. We can take her… but we have to leave, now."

Everything was a blur. He could see Zen scoop his mother’s body and haul her over his shoulder. He could feel his slightly cold and wet hand hold his wrist as they started darting away from the room.

He could hear some of the maids and other servants scream as they scramble away from the house. He could also hear cracking of wood and concrete… and fire?

He didn't know how but he managed to get to the front gates of the mansion... and it was burning.

His childhood home, the only place he's ever known.

It's gone.

His mother was gone.

His father was gone.

The majordomo was gone.

The piano, the very first instrument he learned to play, gone.

Zen was standing next to him, a hand on his shoulder as a sort of comfort.

"I'm sorry, Hui." he tells him solemnly. It was strange to hear the genasi sound so... emphatic.

"What do I do now?" he asked, not really to Zen, but more to himself.

He moves in front of Hui—he can see a large patch of blood on his shoulder, he didn’t even notice Zen put down his mother’s body—and fishes out the necklace his mother gave him, putting it back in Hui’s neck.

"You're free to do whatever you want. The world is yours," the genasi replied.


End file.
